DCU researchers feature on projects funded following symposium
Following this year’s ‘Knowledge Frontiers’ symposium, the academies have announced seed funding designed to promote international knowledge exchange.
DCU researchers had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with colleagues from across Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The symposium aims to support the development of international research collaborations between early career researchers. It is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
This year, the two day event focused on how social sciences, humanities and the arts can address societal, environmental and cultural challenges.
Dr. Iker Erdocia is working on two projects set in motion at this year’s symposium, with colleagues from Cardiff University, the University of Essex, Keele University, Newcastle University and UCC.
The first project, examining linguistic and cultural minorities in the UK and Ireland, will include a two day workshop. The second, which compares the activities of nationalist-separatist political parties in Quebec, Catalonia, the Basque country and Northern Ireland, will culminate in a research paper.
Another paper by Dr Erdocia, examining the regulation of gender neutral language in Barcelona City Council, was recently cited in a United Nations report.
Dr. Danny Marks is collaborating with Dr Zainab Oyetunde-Usman from Rothamsted Research on a project examining emissions reductions in the Irish livestock industry.
Livestock is responsible for approximately 15% of greenhouse gas emissions globally. In Ireland, over one-third of national greenhouse gases come from the agricultural sector, the highest level in Europe, where the average is 11%.
The Irish government has committed to a 25% reduction in emissions from this sector by 30%. However, this proposal is at odds with the government’s 2015 push for farmers to expand dairy farming after EU milk quotas ended. Similarly, the UK has committed to reducing its emissions from methane by 30% by 2030.
Dr. Danny Marks said
“Given this context, we seek to conduct a joint comparative study of the political economy of emission reductions of the livestock industry in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
We want to find out what are the political-economic drivers which have prevented the government from reducing emissions in this sector so far and what can be done to address these barriers.”
Dr Brena McNally is working with a team featuring researchers from Ulster University, Northumbria University and Rothamsted Research.
The eighteen month project will focus on ‘land-use futures’ in farming communities in the UK and Ireland. Land-use refers to the human uses of land such as agriculture or forestry, the sustainability of which is a key concern for policy makers in both countries.